SAN FRANCISCO – The NBA’s two greatest titans of the 21st century will meet for the fourth time on Christmas Day.

Given where each of them is at in their careers, this could be one of, if not the last, times they meet on the NBA’s biggest regular season day.

But until they retire, whenever that may be, they are still the main attractions.

“Just like Magic and Larry in the ’80s, MJ in the ’90s and Kobe carried the league (in some ways) for a long time,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said.

“Popularity, growth, all that stuff. They had a big part in it. Certainly the back-to-back finals against each other really helped. I think overall they’re different careers, different legacies, but to me these guys – both of them – have strong arguments if you want to rank Mt. Rushmore among the four greatest NBA players of all time.”

James turns 40 at the end of the month. Curry turns 37 in March. Each of them is still capable of taking over games and performs very well on advanced metrics like value versus reserve and box plus/minus.

But they have also shown signs of decline. It would be truly incredible if they didn’t.

Last week, Curry had two of his worst games of his career – a two-point performance against Memphis and a 2-for-13 game against Indiana. He hasn’t had as much success getting off faceguards and double-teams and seems less inclined to drive to the basket at times.

When asked by ESPN’s Malika Andrews if he’s thinking about how much longer he wants to play, Curry said, “More than probably before.”

“It’s OK to accept and acknowledge that the end is near at some point,” Curry said. “But only because it allows you to enjoy what’s happening. The more you talk about it, the more you acknowledge it, the stronger the sense of urgency of the moment becomes.”

James, on the other hand, has scored fewer than 20 points in 11 of his 27 games played. The Lakers are strangely 9.3 points per possession worse with him on the court. Although he has increased his defensive intensity significantly of late, James is no longer nearly the dominant defender he once was. At the beginning of the year he left the team for eight days to refresh himself physically and mentally.

“Part of it is just father time,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “In Steph’s case, when you’re 40, or almost 37, it’s much harder physically and emotionally to face what these guys have to experience night after night after night. There is a reason why players have to give up. You can’t do it forever.”

Both the Warriors and Lakers were struggling and hovering near the top of the Western Conference play-in picture. They all probably need a big change to get back to the kind of postseason relevance that Curry and James are used to.

They are still the league’s biggest attraction. Since the 2013-14 season, either Curry or James has led the NBA in jersey sales every year. Nationally televised games with either of these two points tend to perform better. Curry and James have combined to earn 30 All-Star selections, eight championships and six MVP awards. Their legacies are signed, sealed and delivered, regardless of the final chapters they write.

Even as their personal rivalry heated up with four consecutive Finals encounters from 2015 to 2018, Curry and James always had a mutual respect for one another. They first came together this summer when they led Team USA to Olympic gold in France. Coaching them was one of the greatest joys of Kerr’s coaching career.

As James emerged from the visitors’ tunnel to warm up on Wednesday, he playfully tried to block a Curry practice shot before the two shared a heated embrace.

If it’s their last Christmas together, they’ll go out with a bang.